The Band Toto Asia
Toto was expanding its production facilities overseas and operating in France, Germany, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the People's Republic of China. North America was seen as a market that would grow for toilets and bidet seats, in contrast to its "base" markets in Japan and China.
Dhaniram Toto was documenting Toto words to ensure the future generations would be able to read the words. However, many of the words were replaced with foreign words, such as dui, which is Bengali for verandah.
Origins
The early history of Toto which began in 1917, was a reflection of Japan's economic expansion. In the first half, Toto produced goods to meet the demand for modern, brand new urban housing. To do this, it employed the country's first tunnel kiln to produce ceramics in continuous flow. It also pioneered automation for production control, which allows for greater efficiency and consistency.
In the late 1980s, the company began to expand overseas to benefit from sales and new markets. The company established the Cera Trading Company to import and sell other products of other manufacturers to expand its line of sanitary earthenwares and plumbing fittings. This strategy helped to increase sales and expand the company's market share in the world.
By the 1990s, Toto had shifted its focus on research and development of household appliances that are water-related. It also redesigned its system of distribution to better serve customers and improve profit. The company embraced a just-in time approach to supply chain management, and it used the same method for its sales process. This led to a higher level customer satisfaction.
Toto continued to develop toilet technology. The latest toilet from the company features an environmentally friendly, powerful tornado flush. The company uses recycled water in its manufacturing process, and has a green purchasing policy. Apart from toilets, Toto produces bathtubs and faucets and hand dryers that are more efficient in terms of energy consumption than typical models.
The company's first museum opened in the year 2015, and it has exhibitions on Toto's seminal products and their evolution, its group companies (all that deal with ceramics), history of plumbing and products like bath units, and in a separate gallery, Toto products sold around the world. The museum also has a bathroom that features a WASHLET toilet and other toilet-related innovations.
Before beginning the formation of Toto members of the group did session work for various musicians. Keyboardist David Paich, drummer Jeff Porcaro, and guitarists Mike Porcaro and Steve Lukather all played on the album Silk Degrees by Boz Scaggs. They also played on records by Steely Don, Seals and Crofts and Sonny and Cher.
Discography
You would expect a group with a name like Asia to be a prog band, but it is actually a pretty straightforward rock group. The group began as a quartet and released two albums - 1979's self-titled debut, and 1980's Armed to the Teeth. The group has a wide musical background, but their greatest success came in 1982 with Toto IV.
The album was a major blockbuster, but not without its own set of issues. Record companies placed the band on the spot with the ultimatum "give us an album that's a smash or we'll sack you" and the pressure was on to meet the deadline. Luckily for Toto they did, with the aid of the smash single "Africa."
Toto's musical mastery is the result of their previous experience. Before forming the group, the members were session musicians for artists like Boz Scaggs. Steely Dan and Seals and Crofts. Their distinctive sound has become the norm for '80s pop, influencing many modern artists.
The album starts out hard with tracks like Running Out of Time or Unknown Soldier that show the band's ability to write fantastic AOR songs that slowly sink into your head. The album also includes some slow, jazzier tracks like The Little Things and Chinatown. And the album ends with Great Expectations, a song that combines folk with distorted AOR and sounds like a complete flop, but is incredibly effective.
After Toto IV the band's fortunes began to decline. David Hungate left the band to focus on his solo career, and the band had a variety of drummers. In 1984, Bobby Kimball was fired from the band in the wake of drug charges and the band continued as a trio with Michael Porcaro and Steve Lukather.
Despite the turbulence, Toto forged ahead and released Isolation that was not as successful as IV. The band was able to release a chart-topping album, Kingdom of Desire, in 1992. 스포츠토토 marked the end of Toto's lineup and the debut of Simon Phillips, a new vocalist.
Tours
The band has performed across the globe to an crowd of millions, with sold-out shows across Europe, North America, Asia and Australia and New Zealand. The repertoire of the band is extensive, and their collective catalog has amassed over one billion streams on streaming services across the globe. The band's music has been influential to many generations of fans.
Steve Lukather has forged a colorful, deep friendship with Joe Williams that is flourishing professionally around the globe. In 2018, the duo celebrated their 40th anniversary of Tours Around The Sun with a hugely profitable global tour. The album with the same title was ranked #5 on Billboard 200. The latest tour of the band features their greatest hits, rarely performed live deep-cuts, and an assortment of songs that come from Lukather's and Williams individual catalogs.
TOTO has a customer satisfaction rating of 20 based on its Net Promoter Score, which measures how likely its customers are to recommend the brand. Promoters are those who give a positive rating to the company and encourage others to use its products or services. Detractors are those who rate the company poorly, and can even actively hinder others from using their products or services.
Join Toto for an unforgettable cultural experience in Asia. This highlight tour of a region the French used to call Indochine offers luxurious accommodation, a day on a luxury cruise ship in Halong Bay, and an exploration of the mysterious temples of Angkor Wat. It also includes a night in the charming city of Luang Prabang. This UNESCO World Heritage City is a feast for your senses. This is a once in a lifetime trip you don't want to miss!
Line-up
The band's third album, Turn Back, marked an reversion to the classic sextet format of the previous albums. It was a more ferocious, constant effort with a harder edge than Hydra. The more experimental sound of Turn Back was a reflection of the growth of the band. Bobby Kimball's growing proficiency was evident in the vocal delivery of Joseph Williams, who had grown more confident and mature. David Paich's keyboard work was also more sophisticated, sharper and less akin to earlier efforts.
After touring to promote their album, the band recorded an Amsterdam live show which was released on Eagle Records as a 2-CD set entitled Falling In Between. The studio album came out shortly after, and the group embarked on a world-wide tour to promote it. During this period keyboardist Greg Phillinganes replaced Paich and bassist David Hungate quit the group to spend time with his family.
In 1998, Paich & Lukather began exploring old tapes and demos to discover songs that hadn't been recorded before. It was released in the form of a double-album called Then and Now in 2001. It was the first album in the band's history not to feature any single song that had the word "A" in the title, and it also contained one previously not released track, "Kari-Anne".
By 2003, Toto had begun to decline in popularity. The group's fourth record, Old Is New was an uncommercial success and vocalist Williams was suffering from laryngitis, which restricted his singing capabilities. Additionally, Hungate returned to Nashville, while drummer Leland Sklar was replaced by Shem von Schroeck.
Downes, Wetton Palmer and Howe, the original members of Asia The original Asia members met in England in the early part of 2006 to discuss the possibility that the group could be reformed. This lineup, with the exception of Howe (who was a member of Yes at the time), eventually became known as Toto XIV and toured extensively.
In 2010, the band reunited for another reunion tour with a slightly different line-up, including guitarists Mike Porcaro and Steve Lukather, drummer John Pierce, bassist Shannon Forrest, and multi-instrumentalists Warren Ham and Dominique Taplin. The band also had a special guest appearance from singer Michael McDonald and a backing vocalist named Mabvuto Carver.